These pages are a tribute to the love of my life, my horse Bucko...
RIP Bucko 1977-2007
Friend, please don't mourn for me I'm still here, though you don't see. I'm right by your side each night and day and within your heart I long to stay. My body is gone but I'm always near. I'm everything you feel, see or hear. My spirit is free, but I'll never depart as long as you keep me alive in your heart. I'll never wander out of your sight- I'm the brightest star on a summer night. I'll never be beyond your reach- I'm the warm moist sand when you're at the beach. I'm the colorful leaves when fall comes around and the pure white snow that blankets the ground. I'm the beautiful flowers of which you're so fond, The clear cool water in a quiet pond. I'm the first bright blossom you'll see in the spring, The first warm raindrop that April will bring. I'm the first ray of light when the sun starts to shine, and you'll see that the face in the moon is mine. When you start thinking there's no one to love you, you can talk to me through the Lord above you. I'll whisper my answer through the leaves on the trees, and you'll feel my presence in the soft summer breeze. I'm the hot salty tears that flow when you weep and the beautiful dreams that come while you sleep. I'm the smile you see on a baby's face. Just look for me, friend, I'm everyplace! Author Unknown
Bucko became mine in May of 1981 and Cracker a few years later. Or should I say I became their human. Days are planned around feeding time for the horses and other critters when you have a farm. Are the animals ours or are we their humans? A little bit of both I'd say. Bucko & Cracker have left me now. My heart is heavy at the moment as I just said goodbye to Bucko yesterday. He left this world with his dignity and surrounded by love.
I have so many photographs of my horses I have decided they need to be put here. Some horse crazy nut like myself might enjoy them and some of the stories about Bucko. You can imagine I have lots of stories.
I Have Met The Horse Of My Dreams!
I did have a couple of horses in the past but mostly I was a horse crazy kid and this phenomen carried over into my adulthood. My poor parents. Dad worked with guys who lived outside of town and had horses. As luck would have it, one of my now closest friends dad worked with my dad and we had lake cabins next door to each other. My biggest thrills would be the days that Val would gallop her horse Rex standing up down our cabin road when Audrey (Val's mom,) would allow horses to the cabin for the weekend. Val was my hero. I worked up to standing up in the saddle but break into a trot was my limit. I was at least 20 years too late or too chicken.
Those were the days that shaped who I am. I was a country girl living in the city. Duluth is a small city but it has city status and so I was classified by Val as a city girl. I bet there are still times when Val still thinks of me as a city girl but I have earned my stripes. I am a bonafide equestrian and I understand the bond between not only dog and man, but the special bond between horse and human. I haven't lived in a city or town sice 1981.
It only takes common sense to know a horse. To know a horse is to love him or her.
Stephanie
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He wasn't my first horse but he was my 26 year companion
It has been over 3 weeks since I lost him. I am still crying my eyes out. It is so hard going outside and not having him greet me with his nickers after galloping to his feeding area as fast as he could when he would spot me coming out the door. Life without a horse is very different than living with them. There is something missing. The something is huge.
Bucko and I began living together in June 1981. It was Memorial Day weekend when I first met my big shiny copper colored boy. In the news at the time was the death of Bob Marley and his 50 mile long funeral procession to the community of Nine Miles Jamaica, where he was born. It was my birthday weekend when I first laid eyes on him. I had heard about Bucko a week or so earlier from a friend who saw him at an auction, where he was not sold. I was living in Minneapolis at the time and packing for the move back north when the phone rang...."Hi it's me", said my friend Diane. "I saw the perfect horse for you at an auction today and when you come we have to go see him. If you don't buy him I will but I will let you have a chance at him first and if you buy him and ever decide to sell him you have to give me first crack at him". Dianne already had an awesoem horse named Duke so she didn't need a Bucko as much as I did. I was in the process of moving to a farm that was owned by Dianne's mother who was also a friend of mine. Char had succumbed to cancer a year previous.
I was immediately excited! If Diane said she saw the perfect horse, I believed her. It had to be true. At the time I didn't know which was more exciting! The prospect of moving back home or knowing I was going to go see some horseflesh that was spectacular and could end up mine!
The week of the move north was met with much anticipation. The packing and the planning and the organizing the caravan of trucks that would move my things home to northern Minnesota combined with meeting the wonder horse had me jumping out of my skin with excitement! I remember it like it was yesterday...
Upon my friday night arrival to my new home, as the unpacking of trucks and boxes was taking place, what I most wanted to hear about was the horse I would see in the morning....
More soon